Though she stands just under 5 feet tall, the phenomenon known as Lil’ Kim possesses a presence and persona that looms well beyond her tiny frame. It was with the help of Christopher aka Biggie Smalls that she became the only female member of the short lived rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A. Their 1995 debut album Conspiracy debuted at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and garnered the hit singles ‘Player’s Anthem’ (#13) and ‘Get Money’ (#17). In 1996 with the release of Hard Core. Kim’s debut solo work had arrived. The album became a hit, debuting at #11 on the pop charts. The first single from the album ‘No Time’, a duet with Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, became a #1 rap single and #20 on the pop charts. A top 10 single followed with ‘Not Tonight’ (#6). But while Lil Kim’s career was blossoming, her life was shattered along when her father like figure Notorious B.I.G. was murdered.
Following that incident, Lil’ Kim took a hiatus from recording her own music, but she still kept busy with a string of other projects. She was one of the featured performers of Puff Daddy’s highly successful 1998 Bad Boy Tour, and built her own business with the launch of Queen Bee Records. Her long-awaited Notorious K.I.M. was released in the summer of 2000 under the Queen Bee record label and debuted at #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Charts. Her third full-length album La Bella Mafia was released in 2003 debuting at #5 on the pop charts and earned her two more hits with The Jump Off (#17) and Magic Stick (featuring 50 Cent) that shot to #2. Her album The Naked Truth debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart and sold 109 000 copies during the first week of its release. Lil Kim is the Queen of Hip-Hop having caused major influence from the dawn of hip-hop and still curves (whether with her hips or with her voice) the shape of the genre.
